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The Eye of Onyx
Citrine had no idea when she learned that she might be queen. She however did 'know that she had never wanted to. Leave that to her 16 elder sisters! Cayenne had always been ambitious, why not her? Or Calendula! But they were all dead now. Killed in 16 consecutive challenges the night before, against their mother Queen Scorpion. The expansive courtyard was stained black with their blood despite the servants attempts to rinse the away the gory reminder of the incident, with precious water. She angled her wings and plummeted into a tight spiral, landing in the royal pavilion with its gilded decorations of desert life. Her claws clacked loudly on the vibrant mosaic on the floor depicting lizards, desert birds, and glowing suns, as Citrine made her way past rows of neatly coiffed aristocrats regarding her with curiosity. She didn't need to be a mind reader to know what they were thinking: How did this feeble dragonet survive the challenges last night? And if she is here, how is the queen not dead? She mentally answered them: I am only alive because I am too weak to want power, let alone strive for it. Her mother regarded her coldly as she joined her two brothers on the blue carpeted dais before the polished ebony throne draped with a tan camel hair blanket. ''Mother summoned me here to show me something, Citrine recalled. I wonder what it is. "Recently," Queen Scorpion began. "I discovered a most blazing new source of power. A power once known to only be carried in the talons of IceWings and SeaWings." She paused dramatically. A power once known to only be carried in the talons of IceWings and SeaWings?, Citrines mind echoed, her thoughts racing. What could that be? "I have discovered a SandWing animus in our midsts." The rows of aristocrats hissed in respect and admiration. An animus! Citrine's thoughts exclaimed. But that's impossible! "Would you like a demonstration?" The aristocrats cheered. Tail kissing snobs. ''"In that case, Jerboa," Queen Scorpion commanded. "Come here." A SandWing dragonet not much older than Citrine herself, rose from the back of the pavilion and carefully threaded his way between dragon until he came to a rest in front of the blue carpeted dais. He had pale yellow scales the color of desert sands and deep black eyes like polished onyx. He was unadorned with the exception of a golden hoop in his left ear and had an expression as if he were easily amused, though in the presence of the queen he was unsmiling. ''Can't blame him, Citrine sympathized, especially after last nights bloodbath. Her mother loomed over him, piercing him with her obsidian gaze and tossed him a chunk of roughly hewn turquoise. " Enchant it to carve itself into the shape of a bird." "Dosen't it seem rather like a waste of my ability?" Jerboa asked in his deep and rumbly voice. "Enchant It. Now!" Queen Scorpion hissed with fury. His brow furrowed in irritation, Jerboa picked the turquoise off of the decorated floor. Immediately, as if it were melting, slivers of rock slid into Jerboa's talons and a lone exquisitly crafted avian stood on his palm, like a phoenix born from its ashes. "Now make it come to life," her mother snarled. Jerboa sighed and rested a talon on the bird's head and concentrated. The bird flapped its stone wings and alighted into the air. The nobles all gasped in amazement and Citrine craned her neck to see better. It resembled a mourning dove with its gracefully curved neck and and layers of fluffy down and Citrine watched entranced as the bird fluttered in graceful loops and figure eights over the heads of the fascinated spectators. Suddenly, Vetch, a young dragonet no older than a year of age, pounced on the turquoise mourning dove. The bird spooked and flew rapidly forward, on to Citrine's neatly folded talons. While her parents noisily chastised their rambunctious daughter, Citrine picked the bird up and cradled it in her talons. It was surprisingly warm for turquoise with incredibly silky feathers. She caught Jerboa's gaze and he wrinkled his snout in amusement. She smiled shyly and blushed. ''Had he enchanted the bird to fly to me? He seems so reluctant to use his powers though. . . .I wish I could get to know him better. Mother would never allow it though. Unless she were no longer to be queen. . . .but I could never challenge her and win. . . .I wonder if . . . .''Queen Scorpion interrupted her thoughts,"If we are all done with today's theatrics, you are all dismissed until further notice." The aristocrats all bowed respectfully to her and left the pavilion gradually while she stalked off to her private chambers, barbed tail lashing. Citrine approached the animus, clutching the turquoise bird tightly in her talons. "Um. . . ," she blurted. "This yours." He stared at her. Nervously she began to ramble:"I'm sorry, it flew in my talons and I didn't wan't to draw attention to it and my mother is really scary and I didn't wan't her to yell at me or you and I really admire your talent and I want to congratulate you because this bird is '''absolutely phenomenal", Citrine gasped for breathe,"oh and I should probably go now because if we talk too long my mother might kill you if she thinks something is up because she only wants one heir now that my sisters are dead not that I was planning or even thinking about that and if you want the bird please take it because I quite like you and I don't want you to die not that I'm trying to be weird or anything. . . ."Jerboa wrinkled his nose in amusement. "Talons and tails, calm down will you? You can keep the bird, and if it makes you feel better I don't think she is going to kill me yet. She hasn't quite gotten over the novelty of animus magic." Citrine let out a sigh of relief and then blushed crimson. "Are you positive that you don't want to keep the bird, though?" "Teeth of the viper, you are stubborn. No, I wan't you to have it. Besides I haven't got the space." Citrine looked at him amused. "I, stubborn?", she asked huffily," Says the dragon who keeps on trying to force magical birds on me. Stubborn indeed!" "Sounds a bit hypocritical, don't you think?"Jerboa retorted. Citrine tried and failed to keep a straight face. "Fine. But I'll sooner be a sand snorter than lose the next!" Jerboa returned this statement with a bemused expression. "I get that a lot. I'll look forward to our next conversation then." As Citrine left for her personal chambers, she giddily felt as there was an extra air current blowing her along as she flew. ~I got writers block here. will finish later~ As the days became weeks and the weeks became months and the months became years, Citrine and Jerboa remained acquainted solely to exchange verbal abuse on a daily basis. It was the night after her 749 defeat when Citrine was going back to her personal chambers, when she over heard a conversation between the Queen and the head of the royal guard: HORG: That animus and the Princess are much too close. QS: What do you mean Citrine has gotten close to Jerboa? HORG: Every evening they meet in the western courtyard and talk. QS: Really? For how long? HORG: Two years now. QS: Two. Whole. Years? QS: Notos, are you sure? It was not some other dragon? HORG: Positive. I fear he may help her interfere with your golden reign. . . QS (seething): Then we must dispose of him. . .but we need his power. . . HORG: If we were to make him trap it in a vessel, my Queen? QS: Yesss. Then we can deport him to the front lines. A pity Anaconda is so militant. . . HORG: Wouldn't it be much cleaner to kill him ourselves? HORG: No chance of him getting away. HORG: And if he withholds his power from us. . .it dies with him. QS (nodding): Aye. I will send Zephyr to him tomorrow morning, after we seal away his power. HORG: Queen Scorpion. . .actually. . . QS (snapping): Speak up! What is it. HORG: I would like to snap that animus's neck between my own talons. QS: Reall, Notus? HORG: Yes, M'Lady. QS: Very well then. I'll expect you there by dawn. . . . . . . The day dawned stark and cold as the sun illuminated the barren expanse surrounding Queen Scorpion's stronghold, gleaming off of the gilded royal pavilion, illuminating the drab agate walls inlaid with coppery gold and obsidian, and giving the elaborate mosaics life. The citrine chips embedded in her scales seemed to glow with otherworldly light as Citrine hurried through the shadowed corridors. I need to tell him before mother wakes. I need to tell him before mother's plan is fully hatched, she thought frantically. I need to tell him before it's too late. ''Her claws skimmed the ground as she sped past mosaic scenes of the previous SandWing queens and full moon festivals. Her wings folded and glided to a stop before a door carved with a lone sun. She knocked on the door with her barbed tail and no one answered. ''Has mothers plan already been completed? She knocked again and this time a sleepy Jerboa opened it. "Skies above, what do you want of me at this hour." She lunged and wrapped him in the embrace of her wings. "Thank the moons! You are still alive!" "Why would I not be? Is there something you are not telling me?" "I don't have enough time to explain. We need to leave soon. Like now." "What is it?" She laced his talons with hers. "Please Jerboa. Please just trust me on this one." He nodded and swept a pile of scrolls off of a wooden table into a camel hair bag embroidered with claw shaped crescents of white and purple and reached for a parcel wrapped in midnight blue velvet. "Okay. I'm ready." Citrine rewarded this with a bewildered expression. "That was fast." "I figured that I would have to leave sooner or later because of how Queen Scorpion was abusing my power. I'm not deceived by her pretentious mask of lies. I know that she is probably going to try to use me to gain power over all of the tribes. Let's go." Citrine nodded and they flew out of one of the enormous floor to ceiling windows in his room, chasing back the night. As they flew into the darkness that was slowly being consumed by light Citrine described to him the conversation that she had heard between the queen and the head of her honor guard. He winced."I'm glad I missed that. I don't really want to be immersed in the ocean until I drown or be bartered as if I were a talonful of kumquats." "You mean you're glad I'' saved you from that. A little thanks would be nice." "Fine, fine. I am very ''blessed that my significant other could find time between her extremely rigorous ''royal duties to save me at the ''crack of -''" he paused in a jaw snapping yawn and nearly tumbled out of the air."-dawn," Citrine finished for him, watching with combined amusement and worry as he plummeted about three tail lengths before regaining composure. "Exactly." They had flown on for about an hour when Jerboa asked where they were headed. "There is an island between the neck and wings of Pyrrhia. It is uninhabited and surrounded by SandWing allies. If by any unfortunate turn of luck Sky or IceWings appear, they likely won't kill you unless you do something magical. In that case, the IceWings will abduct you and the SkyWings will shove you off of a cliff." "Hmm. Comforting." They flew the rest of the day in silence over the vast windswept Kingdom of the Sand and numerous dunes, following the five tail river to its source. At dusk they collapsed in a heap of sore scales and aching wings where the Pyrrhian neck met the wings. Citrine lifted her head and squinted. On the horizon she could just barely make out a sliver of island wreathed in mist. "There it is." She stood up and Jerboa joined her. "We should leave now." "No." "Why not? Those thrice cursed sons of jackals will be on our tail by dawn." "I know. But this is a journey that you must make alone. My tribe needs me. If I'm not there to ever challenge mother, the tribe will fall apart after she dies." "You know you couldn't beat her in a challenge though. She is too powerful!" "There is no sense in not trying." "There is no sense in dying young." "There is no sense in trying to convince me other wise. My mind is set." Jerboa sighed. "Fine. In that case you will need this. I was planning on giving this to you later, after your mother believed us dead, but it seems you will need it more than ever right now." He dug around in his camel hide bag and drew out the parcel wrapped in midnight blue velvet she had seen earlier. He handed it to her and she slowly unwrapped it. An unusual buzzing feeling seemed to come from it, as if whatever was inside was alive. The velvet finally fell away, revealing wings of fire. At least that's what Citrine thought they were at first. In reality, they were a set of golden wings that glowed like small misshapen suns surrounding a polished orb of jet black onyx which was set on a hammered chain of golden links. Citrine stared at the necklace in wonder as the wings flickered red-orange-yellow in the rays of the setting sun. "Is it animus touched?" she asked. ''Silly question, of course it is, she thought. Jerboa nodded. "I call it the Eye of Onyx. It is enchanted to choose the next SandWing queen based on their innermost-Citrine-like-qualities and to grant you victory in your challenge against Queen Scorpion. Also, it ensures that you can't succumb to a challenge because the necklace will take place of challenges, because anyone over seven and female can become queen if they can hold the Eye and survive. That also means that you can pass the throne on peacefully." "What do you mean surviving?" "The necklace will kill any dragon not worthy for the throne." The weight of the Eye felt ominous in her talons. Noticing her worried look, Jerboa added, "Since the queens are being judged by your qualities, you have no reason to fear." "Oh," replied Citrine relieved. She carefully pulled the necklace over her head and twined her tail with his. "Thank you very much. Someday, when I abate the throne, I'll come find you and nothing in Pyrrhia can stop me. I will tear apart every dune in the desert and throw the ocean into chaos if it means I can be with you again." Jerboa smiled and with a final glance at his beloved, alighted in the air. Citrine watched as his silhouette disappeared on the horizon. The necklace pulsed with energy. She turned back and faced the palace. She had a challenge to win and a kingdom to rule. ~Moonblishipper Category:Fanfictions (Incomplete) Category:Fanfictions Category:Genre (Romance) Category:Genre (Tragedy) Category:Fanfictions (Fanon)